November 19, 2018

Progressive Rock Review: Circuline-Circulive::Majestik DVD

After getting primed with the CD version of the latest Circuline album Circulive::Majestik I was now ready to view the DVD version. This was my chance to finally enjoy this progressive rock band in a visually setting.

The DVD is a high-quality video for sight and sound. I would recommend checking it out it on a big screen, 45 to 65 inches with a surround sound bar system will do. Everything comes through nicely with this simple system and these days it affordable to go that route.

The thing I learned by watching this band perform live was just how focused they all are. And the one thing I did not take note of on the CD was the fantastic bass playing of Harold Skeete (of the instrumental band Ad Astra). He is a serious player and the fact he had only been with the band for two weeks when this was recorded at RosFest 2016 is another reason to give him well-deserved kudos. He is so intense and totally into his instrument. That kind of commitment most certainly made this a more entertaining concert.

Also, my hat is off to Beledo. He is another recently added member of the group, he also was only with the other band members for two weeks. He is an excellent lead guitar player and covers some ground bordering on jazz fusion at times.

This is straight-ahead progressive rock, no frills. This kind of presentation does not have anything to pull your attention away from what is going on with the musicians, which I did appreciate. When you are actually there at a live event you can appreciate the lights, videos, and the crowd reactions. With a sit-down video at home its all about the music and nothing else. I realize some folks may want all those extras however with music like this you need to watch the people that are presenting it, so they did it right.

I do love prog rock done well, and this concert was. Circuline offers all the sudden stops and starts and change of direction in their songs, a trademark of prog. They are complex and give the audience a superb representation of their catalog of recordings.The added bonus of the track “New Day” is on the DVD and Blu Ray only and an entire bonus section of videos for three tracks from their studio recordings are included. It is a nice package for anyone that appreciates prog rock and was not aware of this great band Circuline, and if you are a fan it’s a no brainer.